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'Truth,' 'Children' top winners

Trailer Park, Mark Woollen lead vendors

(Originally published June 15, 2007)

Trailers for New Line Cinema's "Little Children" created by Mark Woollen & Associates and Fox Searchlight's "Thank You for Smoking" from Craig Murray Prods. tied for best of show in the audiovisual category at The Hollywood Reporter's 36th annual Key Art Awards. Fox Searchlight's "Little Miss Sunshine" won best of show in the posters competition.

In addition to the best of show honors, awards were presented in 34 categories Friday night at the Beverly Hilton.

The best of show award gave "Children" a total of three wins, making it one of the evening's big winners. Paramount Vantage's "An Inconvenient Truth" also took three honors -- for poster, trailers and TV spots -- in the newly created documentary division.

Fox Searchlight earned five awards, the most for a single studio. New Line Cinema won four.

Among vendors, Trailer Park led the pack with four wins for its work on "Cars," "X-Men: The Last Stand,” The Hills Have Eyes" and “Paris je t’aime.” Mark Woollen & Associates was in second place with statues for best drama spot and drama trailer for New Line’s "Little Children.” That campaign’s TV spot also tied for best of show audiovisual, giving the company three awards.

In addition to the docu victor "Truth," winners in the poster categories included Warner Bros. Pictures' "V for Vendetta" for action/adventure, 20th Century Fox's "Ice Age: The Meltdown" for animation, "Sunshine" for comedy, Lionsgate's "Hard Candy" for drama, Lionsgate's "The Descent" for horror, Lionsgate's "Crank" for teaser poster, Celsius Films' "Paris je t'aime" for international and the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival for festival/markets poster.

In the theatrical trailer categories, the winning titles included Sony Pictures' "Casino Royale" for action/adventure, "Smoking" for comedy, "Truth" for documentary, "Children" for drama and Fox Searchlight's "The Hills Have Eyes" for horror.

The best of show honorees were selected during the ceremony by the audience using a text-message polling method.

Rob Corddry served as the evening's host, opening the proceedings by confessing his passion for marketing. He then spoke to the makers of the work, saying, "You can't stop giving away the entire plot of movies, can you? So guess what, Mr. and Mrs. Spoiler. It's payback time."

He instructed the audiovisual team to roll the winners, and a credit list ran on the video screen at a rapid pace, generating a burst of laughter from the crowd.

"So how does your own medicine taste?" he joked.

Robert Rodriguez received the first Visionary Award, which recognizes a filmmaker who inspires movie marketers to create work at an even higher level. Rose McGowan presented him with the award.

"Robert Rodriguez has defied classification and has inspired creativity in movie marketers around the world," she said.

Upon accepting the award, Rodriguez said, "What you do is impressive, and it's an awesome responsibility because it all comes down to you now whether a movie is going to get our attention.

"It all comes down to those moments," he continued. "You are holding that in your hands, and when you pull it off and you cut through, it's an amazing feat. You should be very proud of yourselves and be congratulated endlessly for that because it's what keeps us alive as a business."

He summed up: "This is not an award as much as a challenge to continue making these bizarre movies so you can be inspired to make equally out-there trailers and poster art. And I know that when I do, as usual, you guys will certainly be up to the challenge. Thank you for that."

He concluded with a mischievous smile and a mention of his next project, whispering into the microphone, " 'Barbarella' anyone?"

The winners of the Key Art Awards Student Competition were introduced during the ceremony. To enter, students were invited to create their own versions of either a trailer or one-sheet for "Walk the Line," "Brokeback Mountain" or "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." This year, the student award committee received 232 entries -- 63 trailer entries and 169 one-sheet entries -- from 30 participating schools nationwide.

In the audiovisual category, Meme Ellis of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles captured first place on the strength of her "Brokeback" entry. Scott C. Silver of AFI in Los Angeles took second and Benjamin Boles of Columbia College Hollywood placed third, both for "Dead Man's Chest"-themed entries.

In the print competition, Ed Marshall of California Polytechnic State University won for his "Brokeback"-inspired poster. Melissa Wong of FIDM hit the right note with judges to capture a second-place prize with an entry based on "Walk the Line." Douglas A. Sirois of Cal State University, Fullerton, sailed away with third place for his work with "Dead Man's Chest."

Magaly Sanchez of California State University, Northridge, earned the Publisher's Award for her poster for "Brokeback."

This year, $24,000 will be given to the student winners, with half of the prize money going to the winning schools.

In the main competition, 442 movie advertising and marketing professionals judged a record 1,452 entries. The eligibility period was January-December 2006. A judging event was held April 25 at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.

"The marketing has never been more stimulating," said John Kilcullen, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter. "The submissions reflect the great work the community is doing."

New categories were added this year to recognize work in animation, documentary and horror films. To present the animation awards, Nancy Cartwright -- who provides the voice of Bart Simpson --arrived onstage with a Bart puppet, with whom she conversed in a comedic exchange.

"Step Up" received RottenTomatoes.com's Tomato Topper Award, whose recipient is a film that received less-than-favorable reviews but positive boxoffice numbers, highlighting how marketing can translate into boxoffice success.

The Aspect Group's Bob Israel executive produced the Key Art Awards for the seventh consecutive year. He also is chair of the Key Art advisory board. Mike Greenfield of the Ant Farm and Tim Nett of Trailer Park produced the event.

"I was really happy with the way the show turned out," Israel said. "I was really pleased with the flow of the show. I thought the audience was very engaged by it."